VIP Studio Sessions Helps to Engage 11-14 Year olds in Music Education with Music they Know and Love

Projects that use contemporary music genres like Hip-Hop or House Music are a great way to include all students and engage them with music from the very beginning of their time at secondary school.

To increase confidence in their music abilities from Year 7, VIP helps to create a culture where students want to continue with music studies past Year 9, and to engage students who wouldn’t normally consider themselves traditional candidates for Music GCSE.

In Castleford Academy in Wakefield, a music competition was run for their Year 7 groups to compose a track using VIP Studio Sessions in the style of House Music. The twenty best tracks were then made into a compilation CD by the school.

There’s a real buzz around the school about the competition. We’re also singing with each class and are recording a House remix of Adele’s ‘Hello’ which will feature on the CD.

The school found that group engagement was high and composing House Music made it enjoyable for students. The results were really positive and the quality of work was a lot higher than normally expected of this age group.

VIP’s tutorials break music production down to an achievable level for young people in a challenging but fun way. An impressive list of songs produced by young people using VIP can be seen on our Soundcloud page.

Thank you so much for all your efforts in getting this set up. It’s been absolutely brilliant for Year 8 and we have lots of success! I wondered if it might be possible to add my 20-strong Year 10 class? I want to do some dance music with them and I know it would be perfect!

— Elis Reed, Music Teacher, Saffron Walden County High School

Sometimes you listen to a CD and think oh they must have thousands of pounds worth of equipment and that’s not something I could create . Then actually being able to make that music yourself is quite empowering.

The young women were just as engaged as the men.

— Jessica Langley, Head of Music, James Hornsby School

This is brilliant. We never do anything like this.

I’m gonna be famous.

— Students at St Aubyns School

VIP teaches students how to compose songs by building beats, creating chords and basslines through to writing lyrics and arranging tracks, in multiple different styles of music. Click here to activate a free 30-day trial.

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It’s probably the most comprehensive resource to support the teaching of contemporary music genres ever produced